A wooden cabin held together by pegs and modelled after Norwegian Middle Age stave churches might be the best example of a 500-year-old construction technique that has all but vanished. “The dream listing”, according to realtor Nate Cunningham – a former builder – features 40-foot wood vault ceilings, timber frames and elaborate dragon and boat designs carved into the roof and balconies.
“You can just see all the detail that went into, you know, these little bits of beams here,” Mr Cunningham said of the wood-carved beams on the front porch at the 1312 Crescent Ridge Road NW property. “The Norwegian stave church is what he (the former owner) based everything on. And then, you know, have the big doors and the little port holes to see out of.”
Using white pine timber frames crafted by Phil Holtegaard – a specialist in Norwegian folk art – the 2001 cabin is “held together by pegs,” using diagonal braces or knee braces to ensure the building’s rigidity. Speaking to local media, Mr Holtegaard said “the pretty complicated house” involved working on joints for two to three months. The house, he said, also has six dormers in the roof structure – with pieces added over four days with the help of the contractor’s team, a crane, and Holtegaard’s family.
“I start making the different joints on there, usually mortise and tenon joints, but there are other traditional joints too that have even been used for … probably hundreds of years, you know, the cathedrals in Europe (including Notre Dame in Paris) … the roofs were timber framed, so it’s an old, old craft.”
Phil Holtegaard, who developed the “old school construction” home 24 years ago.
Combining Christian and pagan traditions and architecture, stave churches once numbered 1000 and 2000, according to the Stave Church Owners Association website. Using vertical post construction instead of the more common horizontal posts, there are, however, just 28 remaining churches in Norway – with the oldest remaining church, Urnes, listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its cultural importance.
“(An) interesting thing about timber framing is, you know, coming up with the design because … there are no limitations. You can do everything. You CAN conceivably design a timber frame that wouldn’t go together.”
Mt Holtegaard on the value of using lightweight timber framing to design custom built housing.
At 3,926 square feet, Mr Cunningham said the home is “not overwhelming. It’s not over overdone,” adding that the home’s traditional Scandinavian construction is “(almost) like it was 500 years ago.” From the shingles down, Mr Cunningham said no expenses had been spared. The property – listed for US $999,900 – also has a geothermal heating and cooling system that includes in-floor heating and space for a sauna on the lower level. Mr Cunningham said the five-bedroom and four-bathroom home is the “perfect size for a family.”
“They wanted to bring this … old school construction with modern amenities like the geothermal,” he said. “And this type of construction’s so much more efficient. You have the (structural insulated panels) that go in between everything; so outside of the actual timber construction you’re seeing, you could knock all those walls out, open up everything as far as you wanted, there are no supporting-type walls.”
